


Sweet Relief

by JustALittleCruise



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Ian Gallagher and Mandy Milkovich are Best Friends, M/M, Protective Mandy Milkovich, Protective Mickey Milkovich
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-05-14 21:57:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19281991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustALittleCruise/pseuds/JustALittleCruise
Summary: A different take on the original love story. How I imagined the guys coming together.





	1. Interesting Development

BANG!

Mickey wakes with a start, his bedroom door flying open and crashing into the wall behind it and the knob embedding further into the already large hole in said wall. He sits straight up in bed as the sheets fall from his bare chest as he watches a blur run by him into the bathroom and slams that door shut. He can hear a female cussing through the thin walls. 

He groans and flips his legs over the edge of the bed. Picking up his discarded sweats from the night before, he slips them over his boxers and stands. Walking to the bathroom door, he knocks gently, knowing who is in there and knowing any loud or sudden sounds will only make the situation worse. 

When he doesn't get a response or the demand to go away, he pushes the door open and takes in the sight in front of him.  
Mandy is leaning over the bathroom sink holding a blooded towel to the lower half of her face. He can see from the reflection in the mirror in front of her that her white t-shirt is soaked with blood as well. Her eyes are red from crying and the right one is starting to swell with what he is sure is going to be a nice shiner. And what little bit of her knuckles he can see are also starting to swell and are busted all to hell. 

He waits for her to compose herself and turn to look at him, tears dried up but the towel still pressed to her nose. When she pulls it away to speak, he notices she also has a busted lip. 

"What the fuck do you want?" She glares at him. He sighs in response.

"What the fuck happened to you?"

She doesn't answer, instead pushing her way past him, through his bedroom and back out into the hall. He follows her into her own room before she can slam the door.

"Terry get after you about something?" Mickey knows their father usually reserves his beating for his sons, but has been known to knock Mandy around when the mood strikes. Literally. 

Mandy rolls her eyes. "No."

"You get into some kinda bitch fight?"

Again she rolls her eyes. "No."

"Well damn, I know you didn't just wake up like that. What the fuck happened?" He is losing his patience with her evasiveness. "And if you say 'nothing', I'm going to black that other eye."

Mandy rolls her eyes for the third time, but manages a small smile despite herself. They both know Mickey would never put his hands on her. They get that enough from everyone else in the world. 

"It's nothing. Just my stupid fucking boyfriend.." Mickey is sure she continued with the explanation but he didn't hear what she said. He felt his blood pressure hit the roof.

"Gallagher did this to you? Are you fucking kidding me. I'm going to kill that motherfucker." He spun around out of her room heading for the front door. Forgetting he had on no shirt and no shoes, he opted to grab the baseball bat they kept by the entrance to the house instead. 

Only when he felt someone grabbing ahold of his elbow did he realize he was already half way down the front walk and Mandy had been screaming his name this whole time. 

The red cleared slightly from his vision and he snapped his head in her direction. Damn her face was trashed. 

"Mickey stop! It wasn't Ian. Stop!" She looked at him with absolute terror in her eyes. She knew exactly what he was capable of. 

"Explain. Now." Mickey spits the words out between clinched teeth, trying to control the fire burning in his veins. He knew Gallagher was a loose cannon and a bit off his rocker, but he never imagined him capable of something like this. He didn't even know the guy that well, but growing up in the household that he did, Mickey could smell a woman beater a mile away. 

"It wasnt Ian who did this to me. It was this guy I am seeing. Or was seeing. Not seeing anymore. Obviously." Mandy was trying to get the words to come out in a way that made sense but looking at Mickey's face, she could tell she wasnt doing a very good job. 

"I thought you were seeing Gallagher?" The anger was fading away, quickly being replaced by confusion. And was that... relief?

"I am! Well technically. Sort of. Not really.." Her continued babbling was doing nothing to ease Mickey's confusion. 

"What the hell Mandy? Did you get some kind of concussion too?" 

"Ian and I are boyfriend and girlfriend.. but we aren't together. He isn't into me like that." She said. 

"What do you mean? Like he is using you to make some other chick jealous?" The thought of some guy using his sister like a piece of meat was causing his blood to begin boiling again. He turned and started towards the front gate again. Mandy grabbed at his elbow to stop him. 

"Mickey stop!" But he wasnt listening this time. He was going to beat this guy down one way or another. 

"He's gay!"

With that, Mickey did stop. Slowly, he turned to look at his sister in utter disbelief. Well that was certainly an interesting development.


	2. Death Sentence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter. Little less conversation, little more internal conflict. Not sure I worded everything right. I forget yall cant read my mind. Reviews, questions, comments and concerns welcome! 
> 
> Thank you. (:

Ian laid sprawled out on the floor of his bedroom, staring up at the ceiling. So this is it. This is how it ends. His phone sat in his open hand, the text message he had received from Mandy still on the screen, but left unresponded to. His death sentence typed out for the world to see. Or at least for the detectives to see when they come to investigate his murder. 

-Mickey knows. I'm so sorry.-

Five words. That was all it took to bring his world crashing down around him. Mickey Malkovich knew he was gay. The Malkovich family doesn't do gay. Hell, Terry Malkovich served a 4 year stint in lock up for stabbing some guy who accidentally brushed his ass in the line at the gas station. What was Mickey going to do when he gets his hands on the gay guy who's been pretending to date his sister for the past 5 years? Kill him. That's what.

What started as an innocent enough arrangement in high school turned into this whole messed up situation. Ian viewed Mandy as his girlfriend. He text her first thing in the morning. Brought her soup when she was sick. Gave her flowers on Valentines Day. He loved her. He just wasn't... in love with her. 

They had never had sex, despite sleeping in the same bed almost every night. They kissed, but it never went further than a peck on the lips. They held hands and hugged.. but there was never anything deeper than a forever friendship there. 

Ian knew Mandy hooked up with other people. That was an unspoken understanding from the beginning. What did it matter to him? He wanted nothing to do with what was in her pants. She never made a big deal out of it and he never asked. 

Despite Mandy's choice to 'step out' on him, Ian had remained celibate for the last 5 years. Not to remain faithful to Mandy, obviously that wasn't a stipulation of their relationship. But simply because he had never found someone to be intimate with. 

After Kash burned him when he was just a kid, he never had the desire to be hurt like that again. So he stayed with Mandy. Because it was easier than putting himself back out there to be cut down again. And now even that backfired right in his face. 

Ian was so consumed with the destruction of his reality, he didn't even hear the bedroom door open. Suddenly a form is standing over him and a deep voice speaks, startling him from his daze.

"Dude. What the fuck are you doing?" Lip looks down at his younger brother.

"My life is over." Ian says

"Why? Did you and Mandy break up?"

Ian pulls himself into a sitting position and turns to rest his back against the bed behind him. Lighting a cigarette, he takes a long drag before speaking. Might as well get this ball rolling. 

"Lip... I'm gay." Ian avoids looking his brother in the eye as he let's his deepest, darkest secret roll off his tongue. When Lip doesn't speak after a minute or two, Ian finally forces his eyes up to try and see what his brother might be thinking.

Lip is sitting on the desk they have shared since they were kids, looking at Ian with a blank expression. Almost as if he was waiting for the punch line to a joke. 

"Did you hear me? I said I'm..." Ian starts to repeat himself when Lip cuts him off mid sentence. 

"Yeah I heard you. So again I ask, did you and Mandy break up or something? Why is your life over?" 

"No we didn't break up."

"Then why are you all upset?" Lip says. Ian squints his eyes in confusion. Surely Lip understands the meaning of the word 'gay' right? Seeming to have read Ian's mind, Lip kind of chuckles.

"Look Ian, I've known you were gay since you were like 6. Then you started.. whatever the fuck that was with Kash. Then that ended and you got with Mandy. You two have been doing whatever in the fuck that is for all these years. And you seem to be happy. So if you didn't break up, why are you all down then?"

Ian laughs at his brothers ever keen observation skills. He never could keep a secret from him. All this time he knew and never said a word. In the back of his mind, Ian wonders who else knows that never said anything.

"Mickey knows about me and Mandy. He is going to kill me." Ian says. 

With that, Lip jumps down from the desk and stand in front of Ian, holding out his hand. Taking it, Lip pulls him up and then moves towards the door. 

"Where are we going?" Ian asked.

"Mickey's gonna kill you? Over my dead body." And they head down the stairs and out the front door.


	3. Fatherly Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for being MIA. Life has given me a swift kick in the gut and I'm just now getting back to any form of personal entertainment. So I am editing a few chapters for upload soon. Here is the first one. A flash back to Mickey's younger years. 
> 
> For future reference, flash backs will be in italics. Please bear with me on grammar issues and what not. All of this is typed out in my free time on my phone since I don't have a laptop or computer. 
> 
> As always, questions, comments and concerns are appreciated! Thank you for reading.

_Ten years ago_

_Mickey stomped down the side walk, his head bowed against the crisp fall wind trying to blow against his face and down the collar of his jacket. Fuck, he hated winter. Granted it wasn’t winter yet, but bite on his cheeks and the hardness of his nipples from the cold told him it wasn’t far around the corner._  
  
_Why did he live somewhere that got so cold in the winter? Everything froze and was covered in deep snow. It was slippery and the air hurt his face. Why did he live somewhere where the air hurt his face? This was bullshit. Fuck Chicago. Fuck being too poor to go anywhere else. And FUCK the cold._

_Mickey was so wrapped up in his self-misery, he missed the altercation going down in the alley way he had just passed until a loud yell snapped him out of his own head and he turned back around to investigate._

_Not to his surprise, he saw the short stature of his father leaned over a heap on the ground, pounding it with both fists. The barrage of blows was only broken up by the occasional kick now and again, whereas the onslaught of verbal blows never paused or broke stride._

_“You worthless -kick- piece of -punch- fucking shit. -kick, punch- I will -punch, punch- fucking kill you. Don’t you ever -punch, kick, punch- even look at me again you -punch, punch, punch- you fucking -kick- faggot.”_

_It was then Mickey realized that exactly was going on. Whoever the poor soul was crumpled on the ground had obviously sniffed in the wrong direction and it just so happened to be the direction Terry was standing in. And now they were paying for it._

_Mickey learned from a very early age it did not take much to get on the wrong side of Terry’s fists. The first time Mickey could remember being on the receiving end, he was all of four years old and had knocked over a glass of milk on the kitchen table. Terry didn’t even look up from the racing schedule he had been reading when he knocked Mickey backwards off his stool and into the kitchen cabinet so hard he left an indent. All he said was to ‘suck it up boy’. No use crying over spilled milk, right?_

_Mickey understood the guy probably didn’t deserve the beating he was getting, but he also knew better than to get in the middle of. He certainly didn’t deserve it, and that is exactly what would happen if he attempted to intervene. So, he stood back and watched. Waited. Eventually Terry would run out of steam. Or get bored. So, he waited._

_Just as he expected, Terry gave it up a few minutes later. One more solid kick to the gut and he stepped back. Lighting a cigarette, he spit on the ground and turned around, finally noticed Mickey standing there._

_“Whatta you want boy?” That was as endearing as Terry ever got with any of his children. As far as they were concerned, that was perfectly fine._

_“He dead?” Mickey nodded his head to the still unmoving form on the ground behind him. Terry just shrugged._

_“No, but the faggot better stay the fuck away from me. Or he will be.”_

_“What’d he do?”_

_“Grabbed my ass in the line at Stop-n-Shop. I was just trying to get some smokes and this piece of shit walked right and grabbed me. And I thought to myself, nobody grabs a Milkovich like that without paying for it. So, the fucker paid for it. And now here we are.” Terry barked out a laugh at his humorless attempted at a joke. Mickey remained passive. Not letting on about the sick feeling turning in his stomach. Even at 12 years old, he knew better than to show any sign of weakness in front of his father. All it would earn him was a lesson in being tough, Milkovich’s are nothing if not tough,_

_“So, he just grabbed your ass like it was nothing. You beat the shit out of him. And now you are standing here talking to me like nothing happened?” Mickey spoke before he thought about the words coming out of his mouth. The only thing Terry hated more that weakness in his children was a smart mouth. Mickey instinctively took a step back. Terry took a step forward._

_“No boy. Something did happen. I taught this pole smoker it ain’t right the way he’s living. I fixed his fucked-up brain and now he’s gonna start living his life right and pounding pussy, not asshole. I saved him from himself. Cause ain’t nothing worse than a man-humping, mattress munching, sperm guzzling, knob jockey.” On that noted, Terry flicked his cigarette and walked away._

_It was then that Mickey knew there was something his father hated more than weakness or even a smart mouth. And if Mickey wanted to survive in the Milkovich family, he would have to learn to hate them too._


	4. Who's a Pretty Princess?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter for you. As always all questions, comments and concerns are appreciated.

Even though he was only 22, Mickey felt like he had an old soul. People who grew up in his neighborhood didn’t have a choice but to grow up fast. While most kids in the nice suburbs had play grounds and toys to play with, Mickey grew up around salvage lots and junkies. Muggings were a guarantee if you went out at night. Cops didn’t give a shit about anyone who wasn’t paying them to do so. And everyone was dirt poor, looking to make a quick buck or spending the last penny they had to score. Since Mickey didn’t use hard drugs, it only made sense that he was the one providing them to the people who did. And that’s why he found himself once again on the corner of 4th and Gerald, leaned against the old brick building long since abandoned, selling his stuff and making his buck.

 

His collar was flipped up against the already cool breeze blowing up from the alley way behind him. Why is it already getting cold? It’s still September. Mickey always HATED the cold. When he was a kid, it was because of the blatant lack of warmth around him. Mom died young. Dad didn’t care. The world he lived in was simply a cold place. That factor hadn’t changed as the years went by. He learned to stop making friends along the way. Every time he did, they would end up dead or locked up. He hadn’t had a new friend in his life in years. And dating? Forget about it. He chalked his failures in that department to the fact that there wasn’t one sane female in Chicago; much less the South Side. They were all junked out, cracked up or taken. Not that he minded banging one out on a married chick, but the ones who were willing to do that were usually crazy too. If he was being completely honest with himself, he wasn’t attracted to any of them anyways. He had come to terms with taking care of himself and moving on with his day. He knew how to do it better than any chick he let near his dick, so why not?

The sun had risen and was now beginning to fall, signaling the end of his day on the streets. Mickey knew he was a tough guy and could hold his own in a fight, but he didn’t really feel like throwing down tonight. His mind was preoccupied and he just wanted to get home and try to warm up. He turned in the direction of his block and started down the sidewalk.

 

So, the red head is a queen.

 

Mickey wasn’t sure why, but the concept made him smile. Not in his usual ‘I’m going to enjoy bouncing this dude’s face off the pavement till he never wants to suck a dick again’ smile, but a genuine smile. Strange as it was, he wasn’t repulsed by the notion. More so intrigued.

 

He had handed out plenty of ass whooping’s in his day to just about any gay man that crossed his path, not necessarily because he wanted too, but because he felt like he had to. That was what his dad did, what his brothers did and that is what he did. He never walked into the situation thinking it needed to be done, but in the split second the concept registered with him that the person in front of him was gay, something in him snapped. How dare they walk around doing what ever they wanted? How dare they wear their feelings on their sleeves and spout off how they feel for the whole world to know? How dare they get to be who they wanted to be without any repercussions? If he couldn’t live his life like that, who were they to think they could. It wasn’t fair and he couldn’t allow it.

 

But this was different. Ian Gallagher wasn’t prancing around like a little fairy with sparkles and glitter and shit. He was a tough kid from the same streets Mickey grew up on. He had seen Ian take a punch like a man and then throw one back. He had seen him with Mandy. He seemed happy and in love with her. He had seen him play football and the way his muscles rippled under his tank top when he ran by on his morning jog around the neighborhood. He knew Ian grew up in a fucked-up house hold, just like himself. His dad was a drunk and his mom was crazy. Like ‘I love me’ jacket crazy. He had all those siblings running around. It was always loud when Mickey passed his house on his way home.

 

The kid was anything but weak. Ian Gallagher was strong and sure of himself. He was popular and a hot pick among the ladies.  He was a happy person, despite his circumstances in life. Ian was funny and maybe a little crazy himself. He was tall and attractive…….. wait what?


	5. Not What I Expected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading. Leave a comment to let me know you're still with me. And maybe a suggestion on where y'all want this to go next?

Ian’s stomach was turning. He felt like he was going to be sick. Twenty years old was too young to die. He hadn’t lived yet. He hadn’t fallen in love or tried all the foods he wanted or traveled the world yet. There were things he wants to do and places he wanted to go. And now all the sudden that was gone. Why? Because Mickey Milkovich was going to kill him. That’s why.

Ian followed behind his brother as they made their way towards the Milkovich house. Ian knew the way well. In the years since he started dating Mandy, he had made this exact trip at least a million times. He knew every crack in the sidewalk, every tree along the side of the road, even all of the homeless people who made camp in the abandoned lots that seemed to over-run the South Side. All of the other times Ian had come this way, he did so with ease. He enjoyed spending time with Mandy. It allowed him to from his own reality and become immersed in the reality that was her chaotic life. But it was something to keep his mind busy. Today however, his mind was racing a million miles a minute.

How was Mickey going to do it? Maybe he would make it quick. BANG! One shot right to face. What if he wanted Ian to suffer? Break every bone in his body one by one until Ian begged for him to just snap his neck. Ian knew all the Milkovich’s had a penance for beating down anyone who they didn’t agree with or simply didn’t like. It always seemed extra for the homosexuals they encountered. But it wasn’t just the fact that Ian was one of those homosexuals. He had been lying to everyone for years with the façade of dating Mandy. He had essentially used her as his cover story. So, he had committed double the sin. Which, in Ian’s mind could only mean double the punishment.

Every step made his legs feel heavier and heavier. As they rounded the corner and the house came into view, Ian felt his lower extremities turn to stone. Standing on the front porch, smoking a cigarette, was none other than Mickey Milkovich himself. Ian’s stomach dropped down somewhere near his asshole and the sick feeling in his stomach came to a head. He puked right then and there.

“Ian! Are you okay?” Lip’s voice broke through the sound of Ian’s heart thrumming in his ears. But Ian couldn’t respond. Either the sound of his wrenching or Lip’s outcry had alerted Mickey to their presence and he started down the front steps of his porch towards them. Ian felt like he was going to be sick again.

Lip turned and faced Mickey, strategically placing himself between him and his brother without seeming like he was sizing Mickey up. Mickey raised his hands in surrender but still continued forwards. Once he stood within arms reach of Lip, he stopped.

“You okay Red?” Mickey said in what almost sounded like concern.

Ian straightened himself up and wiped the remaining vomit off his mouth with the back of his hand, but before he could respond, Lip spoke.

“We are just here to talk Mickey. We don’t want any trouble. Ian …” Lip started to explain the situation, but Mickey cut him short.

“Look, I don’t really want an explanation from you because I don’t really give a fuck what you have to say. If Ian’s got something he wants to say I am all fucking ears.” Mickey turned his attention to Ian. The infamous Milkovich glare was etched onto his face.

Ian placed a hand on Lip’s shoulder and gently moved him out of the way. If he was going to die today, he was going to do it like a man. He was going to face Mickey head on, not hide behind his older brother. So, he moved forward until he was standing toe to toe with Mickey.

“Mickey, I know your pissed about me and Mandy. And I know she told you about me. Do what you’ve got to do. But I’m not going to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder for the firing squad. We are going to finish this right here and now. Get it over with. I just want you to know, I do love Mandy. With my whole heart and I won’t apologize to you or anyone else for dating her all these years. I won’t apologize for being her friend and protecting her from every creep that looks her way. So, just do what you’ve got to do.” Ian puffed his chest out with his new-found confidence. Not entirely sure where it came from, but at this moment, he wasn’t complaining.

Mickey continued to glare up at Ian, who in fact stood at least 4 inches taller than him. Ian could see the gears turning in his head. Probably deciding how to make him suffer the most. Right as Ian thought he was going to open his mouth to say something, Mickey pulled his arm back and threw the hardest punch he had ever felt right on the side of Ian’s mouth. Regardless if it was from the force of the blow or the unexpectedness of it, Ian lost his balance and fell backwards onto the ground. Before he or Lip could react, Mickey was on top of him, his fist reared back in preparation for another punch.

“I don’t give one flying fuck what you and Mandy do. Whatever this fucked up arrangement is that you two have seems to me like a mutual agreement, so what the fuck does it matter to me? I don’t give a fuck if you are some kind of faggot. I respect Mandy enough to let it slide for her. What I do give a really big fuck about is the fact that you allowed her to be with someone who doesn’t respect her and put his hands on her like she is some piece of trash. You say you protect her? Well where the fuck where you when he was beating her like a grown man? You’ve been with her long enough. You know how Terry is. Why would you allow her to put herself in that situation? A situation that happened TWO DAYS AGO. Not only did you allowed it to happen, but you haven’t even been by to check on her since. WHY? Because you were scared of me?! Fuck you Gallagher. And FUCK whatever you think ‘love’ is. Because that isn’t how you treat someone you love. You think you should be afraid of me because I know you like dick? You should be ashamed of yourself because you are nothing but a fucking coward.”

Mickey ended his rant with another blow that landed right on Ian’s nose. Ian felt it break under his fist. Blood began to pour from both nostrils and trail down his face, mixing in with the blood already running from the split on his lip. But he didn’t care. He didn’t even feel the pain. Not from the wounds on his face. He did however feel the pain from every word that just spewed out of Mickey’s mouth.

He didn’t know Mandy had gotten into another fight with the guy she was seeing. He didn’t know it had gotten physical this time. He didn’t know he had beat her to a pulp. He didn’t know any of that. Mandy never said anything. Well she might have if Ian had answered the phone over the last two days one of the at least 20 times she had called. But he was avoiding her because he was mad at her. When she needed him the most, he was too angry to pick up the phone. Mickey was right, he was a coward.

Lip pulled Mickey off of Ian and helped his brother to his feet. Once again, he placed himself in between the two of them, protecting his little brother. The look on his face told Ian he was just as shocked by Mickey’s outburst as Ian was. Mickey took a few steps backward, running his thumb across his nose then spitting on the ground. Ian went to wipe the blood from his face but quickly realized it was a lost cause. There was just too much. Much to everyone’s surprise, Mickey pulled off his jack and then pulled his shirt over his head and handed it to Ian, then replaced his jack over his bare torso.

“Pop your nose back into place and clean your shit off. Let’s go.” Mickey started back towards his house.

“Where are we going?” Ian and Lip spoke at the same time.

“We’re going to talk to Mandy, find out where this fucker lives and then we are going to handle this shit. You’re going to start acting like the good boyfriend you claim to be.” Mickey spoke over his shoulder with a calm resolve that sent a shiver down Ian’s spine. This was going to be interesting.


End file.
